Preparation of granular polymers of vinyl halides



F of fine grains. --A particular object of this in- Examination of the products of Examples I-V and maleic acid or anhydride, in the'presence 30 the polymeric product. Usually not more than heteropolymer of vinyl acetate and maleic'andidecyl ,phthalat'e. The alkyl groups .in the part of lauroyl peroxide and the alkyl phthalate maybe the same or difierentlprovided' eachfconaimed May 24. 1949 2,470

PREPARATION OF GRANULAR noLi'MERs oFvmYLHALmns I,

Massimo Baer, Springfield, Mass, assignor to Monsanto Chemical Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware v No Drawing. Application December 10, 1947,

Serial No. 790,931

13 Claims. (Cl. 260-785) UNITED STATES PATENT ot r};

This invention relates to vinylhalide-containmade by copolymerizing one gram molecular ing polymeric products. More particularly, this weight of vinyl acetate with one gram molecular invention relates to vinyl halide-containing p'olyweight of maleic anhydride in the presence of meric products in a finely divided state. 60 cc. of'benzene and'O.13 part 'of benzoyl peroxide In my co-pending patent application, Serial at 50 C. for 72 hours. The product, after being Number 691,412, filed August 17, 1946, there is freed from the benzene by drying at 60-70" C. is disclosed and claimed a process for the polyin the form of aiine powder. merization of vinyl halide-containing materials in aqueous suspension, there being dissolved in Tame the aqueous phase thereof an heteropolymer of vinyl acetate and maleic acid or anhydride. This Example ifig lf g' Alkyl Pllthalate Parts process leads to granular products of high quality. However, considerable diificulty is encoun- Db u hthal to.... 1 tered in obtaining the granular products with lgoy'p a 992 99 NNNNN vention is to provide a method for reducing the shows that the products of Examples I-IV have particle size of the granular product obtained substantially reduced average particle sizes as by polymerizing vinyl halide-containing matecompared with the product of Example V. Furrials in the presence of an aqueous solution of thermore, the products of Examples II and IV an heteropolymer of vinyl acetate and maleic acid have substantially smaller average particle sizes or anhydride. than the products of Examples I- and III respec- These and other objects are accomplished actively. cording to this invention by polymerizing vinyl The amount of particle size reducing agent halide-containing materials in an aqueous susmay be substantially varied. Thus, as little as pension, the aqueous phase thereof having dis- 0.5% based on the amount of monomeric masolved therein an heteropolymer of vinyl acetate terial has a definite effect on the particle size of of an alkyl phthalate in which the alkyl groups 15% is desirable since larger amounts may imeaeh contain 2-10 carbon atoms. part undesirable properties to the product. Pref- The following examples are illustrative of the erably, 25%' of the alkyl phthalate are used present invention, but are not to be construed based on the amount of monomer being polyas limitative thereof. Where parts are menmerized. tioned, they are parts by weight. In place. oi the alkyl phthalates used in the In each example in the table, the procedure examples, other, alkyl phthalates maybe used used is thatgiven below. V v I ,in which the-alkyl groups contain 2-10 carbon .200 parts of water are placed 'in a glass-lined atoms such, as 1 diethyl phthalate, dipropyl autoclave and then the indicated amount'of 4O phthalate, dipentyl phthalate, dinonyl phthalate,

hydride is added and dissolved in the 'waterby phthalates used'in the process of the invention heating and stirring the mixture Thereafter, 0.2, f may comprise straight or branched chainsand are introduced and the air in the autoclave is i5 tains 2-10 carbonatoms. v swept out with vinyl chloride gas. The auto- The heteropolyme'rs of vinyl acetate andfmaclave is then sealed and 100 parts of vinyl chloleic acid or anhydride used in the process of the ride are introduced. The resulting mixture is invention may be madebyusu'al method'sjfor heated and stirred at C. for 20 hours. .As a polymerizing unsaturated materials, e. g., in solu. result of this treatment,'substantially allot the 50 tion, in mass,'or in a liquid whichisa solvent, for vinyl chloride is polymerized, i e.-,' more than 95%. the monomeric materials,but not for the-hetero. The polymer is recoveredlfrom the suspending polymer. Illustrative-examples are setiforth' in medium by centrifuging the product. ;,Th'e re. V 'myco-pendingpatent' applicatiornserial Numcovered polymer is washedw'ith waterand dried; ber- 69l ,'412, filed August 17, 1946." A"'particu- The heteropolymer used in the examples is '1arly preferred procedure is set forth in my copending application, Serial Number 790,221, filed December 6, 194'7,-whereby especially high molecular weight products are obtainedby polymerization in the presence of a small amount of a material which is a solvent for the monomeric materials, but not for the heteropolymer.

Usually maleic anhydride is preferred over malelc acid as the copolymerizing material in view of the faster polmerization rates which result. Since on solution of the vinyl acetate-maleic anhydride heteropolymer in water, the anhydride groups hydrolyze to carboxyl groups, there is no disadvantage in using this heteropolymer.

In preparing the heteropolymers in the presence of a solvent for the monomers which is a non-solvent for the polymer, such liquids may be used as benzene, toluene, xylene, hexane, chlorobenzene, chlorotoluene, chloroxylene, dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene and the corresponding bromo or fluoro compounds.

The heteropolymer containing suspending agents may be made by polymerizing mixtures of vinyl acetate and maleic acid or anhydride in varying molar ratios, e. g, from 1:9 to 9:1. Usually, it is preferred that the ratio of maleic acid or anhydride to vinyl acetate does not exceed 1:1 since the use of an excess of maleic acid or anhydride may be undesirable in some cases. However, it may be desirable that the ratio of vinyl acetate to anhydride exceed 1:1. For example, the ratio may be as high as 9:1, as pointed out above.

Heteropolymers of vinyl acetate and maleic acid or anhydride possess a substantial solubility in water without the use of compounds forming salts therewith. Usually the aqueous solutions thereof are clear. However, the products resulting from polymerizing mixtures of vinyl acetate and maleic acid or anhydiide containing a substantial molar excess of vinyl acetate, 1. e., more than 1.5-2.0 mols of vinyl acetate for every mol of maleic acid or anhydricle, tend to form hazy aqueous solutions. While these heteropolymers may be used as suspending agents and are comprehended by the present invention, it is preferred to use the heteropolymers which form clear aqueous solutions without the addition of saltforming materials since these heteropolymers are more effective as suspending agents.

In carrying out the process of. the invention, the polymerizing temperature may be substantially varied, and the temperature employed is governed by the particular characteristics desired in the polymeric material and the nature of the material being polymerized. In the case of vinyl halides and many mixtures of vinyl halides and materials copolymerizable therewith, temperatures of -100 C. are usually employed. Usually only a small concentration of the dispersing agent of the invention is necessary. For example, 0.005-2.0% and, more particularly, 0.01- 0.5% based on the amount of water used, is usually suilicient. However, larger amounts may be employed when desired, for example, up to the limit of solubility of the heteropolymer in the water. The optimum quantity of the dispersing agent depends upon a number of factors, for example, the ratio of water to monomer. Thus, as the water monomer ratio is increased, the ratio of suspending agent to water may be decreased. Another factor afiecting the amount of the suspending agent required is the rate at which the particular charge polymerizes. In general, the faster the rate of polymerization, the smaller is the amount or suspending agent required.

' example, styrene,

. to substantially free Other factors aifecting the optimum amount of suspending agent include the degree of fineness desired in the polymeric product and the speed of agitation.

In carrying out the polymerization process ofthe invention, it is generally preferred that a water monomer weight ratio of at least 1:1 be used, but generally, the water monomer ratio does not exceed 9:1. The dispersing agent concentrations mentioned above may be used within these limits of water monomer ratios.

As indicated above, it is desirable in carrying out the polymerization process of the invention the atmosphere above the polymerizing mixture from oxygen by replacing the air prior to polymerization with carbon dioxide, vinyl chloride, nitrogen or other inert gas. This may be done by sweeping out the air with a stream of inert gas or by subjecting the polymerization charge to partial vacuum, thereby sweeping out the air with vapors from the charge.

The-process of this invention is useful in the polmerization of vinyl halides, e. g., vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, etc., and the copolymerization of viny halides with such copolymerizable water-insoluble unsaturated compounds as vinyl esters of carboxylic acids, for example, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate. vinyl butyrate, vinyl benzoate; esters of unsaturated acids, for example, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, allyl acrylate and the corresponding esters of methacrylic acid; vinyl aromatic compounds, for

' ortho-chlorostyrene, para chlorostyrene, 2,5-dichlorostyrene, 2,4-dichlorostyrene, para-ethyl styrene, divinyl benzene,

- vinyl naphthalene, alpha-methyl styrene; dienes,

such as butadiene, chloroprene; amides, such as acrylic acid amide, acrylic acid anilide; nitriles, such as acrylic acid nitrile; esters of nip-unsaturated carboxylic acids, for example, the methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, amyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, aliyl, niethallyl and phenyl esters of maleic, crotonic. itaconic, fumaric acids and the like.

Preferably, predominant portion, i. e., more than 50% by weight, of the mixture of monomers is a vinyl halide, especially vinyl chloride.

A particularly preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the polymerization of a mixture of vinyl chloride and an ester of an 0:,B-l1l'lsaturated dicarboxylic acid such as diethyl maleate, in which 5-20 parts by weight of the ester are used for every -80 parts by weight of vinyl chloride. Among the preferred esters of nip-unsaturated dicarboxylic acids are the alkyl esters in which the alkyl group contains 28 carbon atoms.

- .In place of lauroyl peroxide used in the examples, other water-insoluble catalysts may be used such as benzoyl peroxide, ditertiary butyl peroxide, oleyl' peroxide, toluyl peroxide and the like. Mixtures or two, three or more of these and other catalysts may be used when desired. In certain cases, the catalyst may be eliminated, for example, when rapid polymerization is obtained in the absence of catalyst. In certain cases, the action of light may be helpful in expediting the polymerization.

The above catalysts are also illustrative of catalysts which may be used in making the heteropolymer dispersing agent.

The foregoing description is given in illustration and ,not in limitation-of the invention as set forth 1: the appended claims.

in the case of copolymerization, a

What is claimed is: 1. In a process wherein rial containing a vinyl halide from the group con- 2. In a process wherein a polymerizable material containing a vinyl halide from the group conagent.

3. A process 30 as defined in claim 1 in which the material is vinyl chloride. as defined in claim 3 in which the phthalate is dibutyl phthalate. aprocessasdeflnedinclaimlinwhlchu 4. A process kyl vinyl ester is vinyl acetate.

8. A process as defined in claim copolymerizable compound is an an a,fi-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid in which the alkyl groups contain more than 1 but less than 9 carbon atoms.

9. A process as defined in claim 8 in which, the

copolymerizable compound is diethyl maleate.

5 in which the alkyl ester of claim 10 in which used, based on the monomeric material.

12. A process as defined in claim l in which the alkyl phthalate is dioctyl phthalate.

13. A process as defined in claim 12 in which 24% dioctyl phthalate is used, based on the monomeric material.

' MASSIMO BAER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 7 Date Morgan 'et al. June 20, 1943 Number are 01. record in the 

